These days, SEO and web design have become more inseparable. However, many web designers still make the mistake of not incorporating SEO into their designs.

We have now just entered 2015, and marrying SEO with web design is even more relevant.

The following are some things that you need to consider when thinking about redesigning or creating a website for your funeral home this 2015.

Data is still huge for SEO

Data is huge for SEO, and it will stay that way for long. Reliable data from Google Webmaster tools and Google Analytics helps you make informed decisions when implementing SEO. Without these tools incorporated into your funeral home’s web design, you will find it difficult to get your website to the top of the searches.

Keywords are still indispensable

Keywords will remain the king, and it will continue to drive the way we optimize the website’s content to gain highly targeted traffic. It will become extremely difficult to see results, i.e. client families visiting your website and contacting you, without the precise keywords that help them find you.

Remember to only optimize for keywords that client families actually use. You can take advantage of these keywords by conducting thorough keyword research which will allow you to discover “low-hanging fruits” that no other funeral homes may have discovered yet.

SEO is all about user experience, always was, and always will be

If there’s one thing that web designers have more control over, it’s user experience, which is an essential part of SEO.

Good user experience is a key metric that could provide your funeral home’s website with a boost in search ranking.

When client families are satisfied with how the funeral home’s website addressed their needs, they might stick longer. This addresses the bounce rate problem that many websites are faced with. A high bounce rate indicates that users are not satisfied with what they are seeing on the webpage.

By providing a user-friendly funeral home website with easy to follow navigation and useful content, you will help visitors find what they need and make them feel that your website is the right place to find more information that address their concerns.

Successful link building takes some time

Gone are the days when links from article directories, web directories, blog comments, and blog networks provide value in terms of link building. In fact, excessive link building using these channels could penalize your website.

Your focus should be on building few but high quality links from authority sites within the funeral and related industry. Build channels on major social networking sites where people are likely to find your services, such as YouTube for your videos. You should also try to engage with other leaders within the industry to build not just high quality links, but also to build a highly targeted audience.

Diversify anchor texts

It’s also important to note that using keywords as anchors for links are no longer as valuable as they used to be. It is highly recommended these days to diversify anchor texts or to use them as naturally as possible.

The following are some best practices on diversifying anchor texts:

• Use variations of keywords when using them as anchor texts
• Use naked links, or those without anchor texts
• Use “This link”, “Click here”, etc. to further add diversity to your anchor texts

These are just some of the SEO best practices you need to follow when designing your funeral home website in 2015 and beyond. We’ll keep you posted on other industry standard practices that will help boost your web presence, traffic, and search ranking.

For more information on building a properly-optimized website for your funeral home, click here.